Sole Survivor

Name: Sole Survivor
Price: 80.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781773856919

A Family Story of Genesis, Annihilation and Survival

Avi Friedman

$80.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

University of Calgary Press
15 June 2026

Memoirs; True war & combat stories; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; The Holocaust; Family history, tracing ancestors

Chaim Frydman survived the Holocaust. He was the only Frydman who did. In Sole Survivor, architect and academic Avi Friedman travels to Europe to trace his father's journey through the Holocaust and find his family's genesis. He visits the homes, factories, and synagogues in which the Frydmans made their lives and the ghettos and camps in which they were imprisoned and killed. Avi finds powerful stories in interviews, archives, and the built environment itself, illustrating the ways that buildings were made to affect the events that took place in them and how the architecture of the Holocaust remains a haunting memorial to this day.

Sole Survivor is the story of Chaim Frydman, who fought in the Polish army and returned to survive forced labour, death marches, and the horror of the camps. It is the story of Avram and Rachla Frydman, who raised Chaim alongside seven siblings, of their children and grandchildren, who died in the Łódź ghetto, in the killing centre at Chełmno, in Auschwitz. It is the story of Avi Friedman, witnessing his father's testimony of from the trenches of Gniezno through Birkenau to freedom and discovering himself as the descendent of a family who survived against impossible odds.

In sharing the Frydman's history, their experiences, and their testimony, Avi Friedman has created a vital resource for future generations. In sharing his journey and thoughtful exploration of the responsibilities the living bear the dead, he has created a work that will resonate for years to come.

By: Avi Friedman
Imprint: University of Calgary Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781773856919
ISBN 10: 177385691X
Pages: 258
Publication Date: 15 June 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Avi Friedman is co-founder of the Affordable Homes Program and professor at the McGill School of Architecture. He is the author of over thirty books.